1 CORE CONVICTION #2: GATHERING HEBREWS 10:19-25 Jesus Christ made a curious statement in Matthew 9.17, You don t put new wine into old wineskins; you put new wine in new wineskins. A supple, new wineskin could stretch and expand as the new wine fermented; a crusty old wineskin couldn t contain new wine it would crack or burst. The new life Jesus came to bring was so revolutionary that old worn-out commitments couldn t contain it, and hard hearts couldn t receive it. The purpose of this RE:NEW campaign is to prepare our hearts like new wineskins, so that God can pour some new things into us. We are renewing the core convictions that anchor us, we are renewing some commitments that define us and by the grace of God we are going to be ready for the new challenges God gives us! Please turn to Hebrews Chapter 10. The idea of GATHERING with other believers is one of the simplest things you can do as a church member, but it is supremely important. Until Jesus gathers the universal church in heaven, we gather with the local church weekly. Universal church and Local church The universal church means all the people in the world who are saved disciples of Jesus in every place, from every race, and every language. There is no place on earth where the universal church can gather to worship all at the same time, but one day Jesus will gather His church in heaven: 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him Ephesians 1:10, That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him. Until that great day when Jesus gathers the universal church in heaven, we gather with the local church weekly. Most of the times the word church is used in Scripture, it refers to a local church, a local gathering of believers in a certain place. Acts 20:7 [Paul s visit with a local church in a place called Troas], Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. Here is a gathering of a local church on a Sunday to break bread (enjoying table fellowship and observing communion) and a worship service that was centered around the proclamation of the Word of God. We still follow that basic pattern today in the local church. Read Hebrews 10:19-21. Pause and think about that synonym for the church, the house of God a house is where a family lives. A church is a family. It is not a building; it is not an institution; it is not an organization; it is not a club. It is a family. A lot of people say, I m going to go to church, as if church is a place you go to. That s not correct. Church is not a place you go to church is a family you belong to. Read v.22-25. This passage uses us and ours not just me alone, but us together! The Christian life is something we do together!
Some people say, I m a Christian, but I m not into organized religion; I don t want to belong to any church. That just doesn t make sense. The church is where you live out what it means to be a Christian. That s like saying, I m a football player, but I don t want to be on a team. It doesn t work. That s like saying, I m a tuba player, but I don t want to be in an orchestra. God meant for us to be a part of a family, a local church. I like how John Wesley said it: There is nothing more un-christian than a solitary Christian. In this passage, God teaches us why we gather as a local church: I. We gather to draw near to Jesus. V.22, Let us draw near we draw near to Jesus together. That s what a worship service is all about. You can draw near to Jesus by yourself and you should. But God s design is that we need to draw near together, too. When you gather with the church to draw near to Jesus, your attendance says, I need Him, too. And remember what Jesus promised us? Matthew 18:20, For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. We draw near to Jesus in several ways when we gather: 1. In prayer Hebrews 4:16, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Corporate prayer is that unique place where our fellowship with each other and our fellowship with God intersect. In the book of Acts, we see that when the early church would pray together the power of God and the guidance of God would come. Church members ought to show up when the church gathers to pray. 2. In singing 3. In symbols Hebrews 13:15, Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. There is something about singing with the church that unifies us. When we sing together, we are literally all thinking about the same words, the same sounds, the same tune and that unity is powerful when we turn it into praise and we draw near to Jesus together in our singing. Pay attention to what you re singing, put your heart into it! Psalm 81 says, Sing aloud to God. You may think that you are not good at singing. This isn t a talent show. Just make a joyful noise to the Lord. You may say, Singing is not my thing. Then just speak the words; or stand there and smile to the Lord while you think about the words. Give the rest of us some indication that you believe what we re singing! This passage reminds me of the symbols of our salvation that we only observe when we are gathered together. Baptism Verse 22 states, our bodies washed with pure water. That hints at the symbolism of baptism. When we repent and believe the gospel, God cleanses us from our sins. Baptism by immersion under water is the symbol Jesus gave for believers to publicly declare their salvation. Baptism not only says, I m identifying with Jesus, but also, I m identifying with this local body of believers. The earliest Baptist church buildings built the baptistery right inside the door. They thought of baptism as the doorway to fellowship with the church. 2
3 Witnessing baptisms is something that helps us to draw near to Jesus we see a testimony of the power of the gospel; we remember our own salvation experience; together we receive a new member, like a family welcoming a new baby! Communion (the Lord s Supper) Verse 19 speaks of the blood of Jesus and v.20 speaks of His flesh the sacrifice Jesus made to bring us to God. We symbolize that in the bread and the cup of Communion. That is something we do only when we gather together as a church; it is a symbol we share that draws us into the presence of Jesus as we remember His body and blood. Church members ought to be here every time we do that. II. We gather to strengthen our grip on the truth. Verse 23, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope. When we gather together on Sundays, we talk about the confession of our hope the truth we believe, the promises that keep us going. We need to be reminded of the truth; we need to receive it together; we need to affirm it together. That s why preaching is a central part of our gathering. When we hear the truth, we take hold of it together and we hang on tightly. Every time we do that, if the preacher is doing his job and the listeners are doing theirs, we strengthen our grip on the truth. We live in a world that is full of deception and empty philosophies and false doctrines and we need to keep a firm grip on the truth. Church members ought to show up to hear the truth and be fed spiritually. If you stay in bed on Sunday mornings reading Facebook or lounging on the couch watching old movies, you should not be surprised when you feel spiritually empty. But if you ll get in the habit of simply showing up, good things are going to happen spiritually. III. We gather to encourage one another. We not only gather to worship the Lord, we gather to encourage each other. If you re not here I can t encourage you and you can t encourage me. Your very presence encourages me and your absence discourages me. Verse 25 talks about what we are doing right now: the assembling of ourselves together. Verse 24, Let us consider one another. When we gather together, of course we are to think about the Lord, but we are also supposed to think about each other. We need to be alert to one others needs, ways we can help, what is going on in life but these verses specifically say that we should think about how we can encourage each other, stir up love and good works. There are some people whose very presence stirs us up, making us want to do better and be better for Jesus. Others stir us up with their words. Some people, you just love to see them coming that doesn t happen if I stay home. I have to show up to get stirred up. Verse 25, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together but exhorting one another. To exhort is to come alongside someone to encourage them. That is the responsibility of every church member. This verse commands us to show up for the worship gathering and encourage each other. You can t encourage anybody when you forsake the gathering. There was an old deaf man in a small village who faithfully walked over a mile to his church every Sunday morning. His church was small and there was no one to use sign language. He never heard the songs or the music. He would greet the people and read his Bible. He never missed a Sunday. One day someone asked him, Why do you go to church? You could read your Bible at home, so why do you show up? He replied, I go because I want my neighbors
to know which side I m on! 4 Which side are you on? Verse 25, forsake = to let down, leave behind, abandon. To keep this in context, the Jewish-background believers to whom this letter was written originally were undergoing persecution from both the Romans and the Jews. Some of them were forsaking the gathering of the church because it was dangerous, it was hazardous; to gather was to identify with Christians and it could bring down persecution, even cost them their lives! That makes our excuses for skipping the worship service seem pretty lame, doesn t it? V.25 says that forsaking church was the manner of some (the habit) back then, and it is the bad habit of some still today. Here is a simple graph for First Baptist Church: Because we average 1,850 people in worship on Sunday mornings we think this is a large church. But when you consider that we have 3,600 members, the reality is that more than 1,700 people who have united with this church and say they are a part of us have developed the bad habit of abandoning our Sunday worship gatherings. They are missing the fellowship of the family; they won t have the encouragement we could give to carry them through the week; and they aren t here to be a blessing to anybody either. Part of RE:NEW is nailing down this conviction: we believe that our commitment to Christ involves a commitment to gathering with His church on Sundays. We don t forsake it, we embrace it! Some quick answers to frequently asked questions: 1. Is it OK to just stay home and watch the service on television? Thank God for our media ministries, but that is for people who can t physically make it. If you can physically attend, you should. I don t see how you can stay home and obey v.25, to assemble with the church to encourage each other. 2. What if I have to work on Sundays? Find a way to gather with the church as often as you can make that a priority and you will find a way to stay connected.
5 3. What if I have to miss because my kids play sports on Sundays? First, don t blame that on your kids you signed them up for it. Second, if you are a member of First Baptist Church, before you signed up for that team, you signed up for this team. We need you here. Third, think through what you are communicating to your kids. Do you want them to be a world-class athlete or a world-class disciple? RE:NEW your commitment to gathering with God s people for worship. God has some awesome plans for the future of our church, some great and challenging and rewarding work to do and it is going to take more than just a half-time, half-hearted, once-a-month commitment to keep up with where He is leading. There was a small church in New England with a particular member named Sam, who had been very faithful to attend church every Sunday. But Sam s attendance became more and more sporadic, until finally he stopped coming at all. A wise, old friend and fellow church member went to visit Sam one cold evening and as they sat down in front of a fire in the fireplace the pastor said, Sam, we ve been missing you at church, we want you to come back. Sam said, Well, I ve been thinking that I don t really need to go to church to stay close to God. Why do I need to attend worship? Instead of answering the question, the man simply leaned over and took the tongs beside the fireplace. He removed one of the burning embers from the fire and placed it by itself on the hearth. After a few minutes, the lone ember s flame diminished until it grew cold and dark. Meanwhile the other embers in the middle of the fireplace continued to glow and send out heat. Still without speaking a word, the man took the tongs and moved the dead, dark ember back into the middle of the glowing embers; soon it was glowing hot again. The man got up to leave and Sam said, Brother, thank you for your visit and especially for that fiery sermon. I got the message. I ll be back again next Sunday.